by Jon Swartz, USA TODAY, @jswartz

by Jon Swartz, USA TODAY, @jswartz

SAN FRANCISCO - Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer is off to a promising start since she started the new gig last summer and, ultimately, content and mobile hold the keys to continued success.

"There are clear opportunities for growth in search, e-mail and mobile," Mayer said this afternoon at the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference here. "There's no reason why we shouldn't" benefit from that.

"We have all the content that people want on their phones - and need to figure ways to get it on their phones," she said.

Mayer stressed that Yahoo's emphasis on search, mobile, news, e-mail, finance and sports comprise "daily habits" on the Internet. "It's what we will focus on here," she said.

To that end, Yahoo has acquired a handful of companies brimming with talent in recent months. Today, it scooped up mobile-app maker Alike for an undisclosed sum.

"Yahoo is fundamentally an advertising company" that will leverage personalized content and search, she said.

A crucial area is mobile, where some 200 million active monthly users access Yahoo from their smartphones and tablets. Although Yahoo boasts 60 to 75 mobile apps, it will concentrate on a dozen that people "use on their phones all the time," she said. She cited Yahoo Groups as an "ideal place to do group communication."

E-mail must also work better on phones and PCs, and is a focus of improvement at Yahoo, she said.

"The success of Yahoo Sportsā?¦ needs to be replicated" in other areas, Mayer added, referring to loyal fans of its Fantasy Football leagues.

Mayer also is keenly eyeing efficiency in operations, underscored by selling a $7.6 billion stake in Chinese Internet company Alibaba last year.

Despite its struggles the past few years, Yahoo is a "tailor made" job for her, Mayer insisted. "I do aspire to be a great CEO," she said. "Our biggest concern is growing usage."

While she said she wore many hats during 13 years at Google - overseeing search, mobile, maps and more - Yahoo has a strong arrangement of products and "an amazing brand," she said.

Asked if any tech leader was of particular influence on her, Mayer did not offer a name.